Edel Rodriguez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1971. In 1980 Rodriguez and his family boarded a boat and left for America during the Mariel boatlift. They settled in Miami where Rodriguez was introduced to and influenced by American pop culture for the first time. Rodriguez has received commissions to create artwork for numerous clients, including The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Der Spiegel, The New Yorker. His work regularly appears in ad campaigns, book covers, and art shows world wide. Rodriguez's artwork is in the collections of a variety of institutions, including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., as well as in numerous private collections.